financial aid workshop - north allegheny school district€¦ · student loans •19% of college...
TRANSCRIPT
Financial Aid WorkshopMeg Ryan
Executive Director of Admissions & Financial Aid
Agenda
• What is Financial Aid? & why care about it now?
• Types of aid
• Need-based vs. Merit-based strategies
• Alternative financing options
• Questions to ask
• Q&A
What is Financial Aid?
Financial assistance to help families cover the cost
of attendance.
• Need-Based and/or Merit-Based
• Gift (Grants & Scholarships)
• Self-help (Loans & Work-Study)
It can come from
• State and Federal Governments
• Institution
• Outside/Private sources (other than the family)
The role of Financial Aid in College Choice
• About 40% of students who decided not to go to their first-choice college cited reasons related to cost (Inside Higher Ed)
• College is a long-term investment for the student and family
What to know now
• Your financial aid expectations, needs & limitations throughout the entire admission process
• Net Price Calculator/Early Estimate Forms – any institution that receives federal funds must post
a Net Price Calculator on their website
What to know about college costs
• Both institutions and families are working with budgets
• Different types of institutions have different costs
• Different types of institutions have different financial aid practices
What to know about college costs
• Be sure that you are comparing apples to apples
• Tuition vs. Cost of Attendance vs. Net Price
Your out of pocket expenses
Comprehensive cost for one academic year –can include, room & board, travel, books, etc.
Portion of college costs for academic administration only
Types of Financial Aid
Grants & scholarship programs
Funds that you receive and are not required to pay back or earn• Institutional grants or scholarships
– Can be need or merit-based
• Federal Pell Grant• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity
Grant (SEOG• State Grant (PHEAA)
– PA has reciprocity with: DE, D.C., MA, OH, VT, WV
Student loans
• Federal Direct Loan– Subsidized
– Unsubsidized
Student loans
• 19% of college costs are covered by student borrowing & 8% are covered by parent borrowing (How America Pays for College, Sallie Mae)
• Average loan debt for the US is: $28,650 (Institute for College Access & Success)
• The average loan debt for PA is $36,854 (Institute for College Access & Success)
• Asking about a college’s default rate can often given insight on the return on investment
Work-study
• Funds that need to be earned by the student
• Employment policies vary across institutions (how do you get a work-study job?, what happens if you earn more than your award?)
• These funds are often listed in a financial aid award but are not directly credited to the student account
Financial aid policies
Expected Family Contribution(EFC)
The EFC is the amount used by colleges to evaluate a family’s ability to pay for college through:
• Direct contribution from income• Drawing down on assets• Borrowing
This amount can be calculated using variations of the:
• Federal Methodology (FM)• Institutional Methodology (IM)
*Your calculated EFC does not mean that your bill will match that number exactly, it is a number used in a formula
Need-based financial aid
• Philosophy is to ask every family to contribute what they can
• A combination of grants or scholarships, work and loan programs attempting to meet the need of the family.
Cost of Attendance - Expected Family Contribution
= Financial Need
Federal Methodology
• Number in household
• Custodial Parent & Spouse
• Income & taxes
• Assets– Home equity not included
• Applied the same way across all institutions
Institutional Methodology
• Number in household – with details on family composition
• May consider parent not living in the household
• Income & taxes with details on how they were earned
• Assets– Home, farm & business equity
• Allows for customizing based on institutional priorities
Colleges can calculate your need differently
Merit-based financial aid
• Philosophy is to use scholarship funds to attract top students to enroll in their institution
• Awards can be based on academic, athletic or artistic talent, contributions outside of the classroom or any combination of your application information
Preferential packaging
• Colleges use financial aid as a recruitment tool to attract the strongest students
• Institutions use their own grant funding to improve the strength of a financial aid award
Preferential packaging
• Where you sit in the applicant pool will determine your financial aid award
• Example: academics
Your GPA: 3.8 Average
Admitted GPA: 3.5
Your GPA: 3.5
Average Admitted GPA: 3.8
Applying for financial aid
Applying for financial aid: forms
• Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
• CSS PROFILE (CollegeBoard’s form, used by more than 600 colleges)
• Institutional Forms
• Primary Documentation– Tax Returns, W-2 Statements, IRS Transcripts
Applying for financial aid: timeline
• FAFSA & CSS PROFILE are available in October of your senior year
• Use income information from two years prior to your enrollment– Start college in Fall 2019
– Use taxes from 2017, filed in April 2018
Applying for financial aid: who
• When parents do not share the same household, the parent that files the FAFSA is:– the parent with whom the student lives most of the
year
– OR the parent who provided more financial support during the previous 12 months
Note: who claims the student on the taxes does not determine who is the “custodial parent”
Applying for financial aid: who
• If the custodial parent is remarried, that step-parent’s information is required on the FAFSA
• Non-custodial parent information may be requested by the institution in different ways (CSS PROFILE, institutional form)
• Non-custodial parent information is not included in federal or state eligibility requirements
Applying for financial aid: deadlines
• May 1 (of the senior year) for PA state grants
• Institutional deadlines for financial aid• Some institutions may have different deadlines for
internal scholarships and availability of scholarships may be dependent on application plan
• Enrollment/Application deadlines
Alternative Financing OptionsClosing the gap after financial aid
Alternative Loans
• Student loans or alternative loans in the parent’s or student’s name
• Can come from the federal government (Parent Plus Loan) or a variety of lenders
• Ask about interest rates, deferment options and payment plans
Outside scholarships
• Look locally • Talk to your counselors
• Apply for smaller scholarships
• Apply often, early and throughout your enrollment
• Online resources:• www.fastweb.com
• www.collegeboard.com
Other options
• Payment plans– Check with your institution
– Allow for installment plans
What should I be asking?
What should I be asking?
• Do you practice need-blind admission?
• Do you offer merit-based scholarships?• If so, what are the requirements to qualify?
• Do you guarantee to meet full need?
What should I be asking?
• What is your financial aid deadline and what forms do you require?
• Can I expect to receive a similar financial aid package all four years? Assuming my financial circumstances don’t change?
• What is your policy on outside scholarships?
What should I be asking?
• When will I get my financial aid award letter?
• How does the financial aid application or policy differ for early decision/early action students?
• If the financial aid award is insufficient, how do I appeal for more financial aid?
• Any special circumstances that you might have…
Return on Investment
Question & AnswerMeg RyanExecutive Director of Admissions and Financial [email protected]